Muntakhab al-tawarikh 23: SULTAN RUZIYAH BINT SULTAN SHAMSU 'D-DIN
Muntakhabu-t-tawārīkh (Ranking, Lowe, Haig) 23
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SULTAN RUZIYAH BINT SULTAN SHAMSU 'D-DIN
23.1
Came to the throne in the year 634 H. (1236 A.D.), and followed the path of equity and the principles of justice; set in order the affairs which had remained in confusion, and set before her the pursuit of beneficence, (which is as great a fault in women as stinginess is in men) as the object of her ambition, and made Nizamu-l-Mulk Tabarhindah, and on the way the Turks witnessing her immodest behaviour, rebelled, and seized both Sultan Raziyyah and Jamalu-d-Din Yaqut the Abyssinian, who had risen to be the Chief Amir, and confined them in the fortress of Tabarhindah: Seek not fidelity to its promise from the indolent world For this old woman is the bride of a thousand lovers. There is no sign of faithfulness to promise in the smile of the rose Lament, Oh heart-reft nightingale, for here is cause for complaint. SULTAN MU'IZZU-D-DIN BAHRAM SHAH, SON OF SHAMSU-D-DIN
23.2
Next succeeded to the throne and came to Delhi. At this time Malik Ikhtiyaru-d-Din Altuniyah the ruler of Tabarhindah having espoused the Sultan Raziyyah, and having gained over certain of the Amirs and a body of the Jats and Khokhars and all the landholders brought an army towards Delhi. Sultan Mu'izzu-d-Din Bahram Shah, sent the Malik Balban the younger (who eventually became Sultan Ghiyasu-d-Din) with a vast army to oppose Raziyyah, and a battle ensued in which the forces of Raziyyah were defeated. She then went to Tabarhindah, and a second time collected her forces and rallied her scattered troops and arrived in the neighbourhood of the village of Kaithal with the intention of conquering Delhi, and again being defeated at the hands of the Malik Balkan the younger, took to flight and both she and Altunlyuh fell into the hands of the Kawars and were put to death by order of Sultan Bahram Shah. This event took place in the year 637 H. (1239 A.D.), and the duration of the reign of Razziyah was three years six months and six days. A head which the neck carries loftily That same head later finds a rope round its neck.
23.3
When the sovereign power was firmly established in the hands of Sultan Bahram Shah, Malik Ikhtiyaru-d-Din Itkin who was formerly Hajib and was married to a sister of the Sultan, and had got all the affairs of the kingdom into his own hands by the assistance of Nizamu-l-Mulk Muhazzabu-d-Din, being accustomed always to keep a large elephant tied up at his door, like a king, was murdered in the year 638 H. together with Muhazzabu-d-Din wazir, by certain Fidais, by the orders of the Sultan, and in this year the Sultan dealt with a party composed of Amirs and chief men, and leading nobles, and grandees, and judges who used to hold secret meetings to discuss a change of monarchy and the appointment of a new king. Some of them he put to death, and some, as for example Badru-d-Din Sungar Amir-i-Hajib he sent to Badaon where they died in prison. Among them was Qazi Jalalu-d-Din Kashani, whom they removed from his military command and appointed Qazi of Badaon, and Qazi Shamsu-d-Din the Qazi of Marhira they threw under the feet of an elephant in the same way.
23.4
And in the year 639 H. the troops of the Mughal Changez Khan came and invested the city of Lahore, and Malik the Governor of Lahore fled one day at midnight and came to Dehli, where the Sultan pledged the Amirs anew to fealty, and having summoned a conference sent Nizamu-l-Mulk, Wazir, whose heart was not friendly to the Sultan, to oppose the Mughal force in the Panjab. He, with craft and hypocrisy wrote on letter to the Sultan and made many complaints of the Amirs who were with him, and begged the Sultan to come. The Sultan, however, not thinking it advisable to go in person, wrote a despatch to him in apparent sincerity, saying, "these recalcitrant Amirs shall meet their punishment in due time, you should treat them with civility till then." He showed that despatch in original to the Amirs and brought them over to his side, and the Sultan Mu'izzu-d-Din Bahram Shah sent Hazrat Shaikhu-l-Islam Khwaja-i-Jahangiyan Qutbu-d-Din Bakhtyar Ushi, may God sanctify him, to the Amirs to put matters straight and to quell the disturbance, but without success, the Shaikhu-l-Islam returned and came to Dehli, and just at this juncture Nizamu-l-Mulk and the Amirs also arrived and besieged the Sultan in Dehli, and taking him captive imprisoned him, and after a few days despatched him to the next world and set up another king in his place. ‘The times of old have had this habit To take from this man and give to that.’ The duration of his reign was two years and one month and fifteen days.